


The House

by DarkHole



Category: Horror - Fandom, Visage - Fandom, haunted house - Fandom
Genre: Alcoholism mention, Drinking, Ghosts, Homelessness, Horror, Psychological, Scary, Spooky, Supernatural - Freeform, Technology, abandoned house, alcohol mention, drinking mention, haunted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25793452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkHole/pseuds/DarkHole
Summary: Log name: Jake MorrisonLog Date: 3/8/2014Last Update: 3:43am 4/6/2014
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

Welcome to DarkHole.

Please begin system interface.

…

Login successful. Welcome, Jake.

…

Begin log.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been really desperate, for anything. Money. Help. Somewhere to spend the night, so you’d finally have a roof over your head. I was desperate for all of that. It was during a 6 month period of my life where after being evicted from my apartment, and losing my job, I was living on the streets, doing my best to find something to pull myself back up. Truthfully, I was starting to lose hope, and found myself drinking more than I was looking at job advertisements. I woke up one morning, crawled out of a bottle of Vodka, and decided that I was going to grab a newspaper, and just apply for every job listing. What did I have to lose? Living in Chicago, there’s a fair share of newspapers. I grabbed a copy of the cheap local paper, sat on the curb, and started reading over the listings in the last pages. Scanning over the small print, one of the ads popped out at me.

Excellent Paying Night Shift! Late-night cleaners needed! Crow Construction has recently finished a building project, and needs some cleaners to clear the building before it can be staged and sold. Responsible for basic janitorial duties, security and lockup of the building. Contact JAble@crow.net for details.

At that point, I figured you know, it would be nice. A late night shift, by myself or maybe with a team of other cleaners, just steady, quiet work. Something easy, and hey, the pay was apparently good. After the past few months, I could use good and easy. It was by far the most appealing ad on the list, so I used it as my starting point. My cellphone was one of the few possessions I was able to keep. I wandered into a Starbucks, logged onto the wifi, and sent a quick email to the contact for details.

The response time alone should have tipped me off.

But I was desperate. Maybe they were having trouble finding people- based on the email I got back, I could see why.

_Hi Jake! Thanks for reaching out! We’ve honestly had the ad up for almost three weeks, and you’re one of the only people to get in contact. The job is pretty simple- it’s a solo cleaning job. Our latest construction site is an old house we’ve been refurbishing, and with all the drywall dust and such, it needs to get cleaned up before we’re able to take pictures and sell it. We’d need you every night until the job is complete- 7 days a week- from 12am to 5am. We pay by the night, $20 an hour ($100 a night). Are you interested?_

_Judy Able_

7 days a week, 12am to 5am, at $100 a night. It sounded like a dream come true for someone in my situation. Maybe if I’d been less desperate, it would have been less appealing. I was sure that’s why they’d hardly gotten any applications, or follow ups with the hours and days they were requiring. Getting paid by the night was shady for a professional company, but I needed the cash. I sent a quick email in response, and spent what could’ve ended up being my last bit of cash on a couple of energy drinks, a warm coffee, and a muffin. I figured I’d need the energy drinks for my first shift, whenever that was.

Judy emailed me back less than an hour later.

_Awesome! I’m so glad to hear you’re interested! All the cleaning supplies will be provided for you- they’ll be in the front hall closet when you arrive. The key to the house will be in an envelope on the front porch- it’ll be out of sight, so you’ll need to look around for it. Once you’re inside, the key will also open the closet with the cleaning supplies. Get as much as you can done- you have all week, and any additional time, but the faster it gets done, the better! You’ll need to sweep, dust, vacuum, mop, clean the windows, and wax the wood floors. If you notice anything, like scuff marks on the walls, or people hanging around the site, please send an email and let me know after your shift._

_We also have a room set up with security feed from the cameras. Please periodically check the cameras in case there is any unauthorized personnel on site. If you see anyone, make a note of what they look like, turn off the camera they are in for 2 minutes, and then immediately turn it back on and leave the room. If you see a woman with grey hair in a blue dress, lock the door, turn off all the cameras, and hide under the desk. Do not come out from under the desk until she says “goodnight”. Turn all the cameras back on, leave the room, and do not return to the room the rest of your shift. Please do not have your cellular data turned on. We’ve found that it can cause interference with any electrical equipment still on site. It’s better to either shut it off completely, or not have it on you at all. Do not email me or check notifications on site. You may hear sounds coming from the office in the upstairs hall. The office is completely off limits and should not be opened under any circumstances, no matter what you hear coming from inside. It is to remain closed, particularly from the hours of 3-4am. If you see anything near the office that shouldn’t be there, turn your back on the office door, close your eyes, and wait 30 seconds before turning around again. If it is still there, go downstairs into the camera room, and lock the door. Wait until the house is quiet before you leave the room. You are expected to remain in the house for the entire shift. Once you enter the house at 12am, you should not leave the house for any reason, nor should you go outside. Once 5am arrives, check the office upstairs one last time before you leave the house. Make sure the door is still locked before you leave. Then quickly exit the house, lock the front door behind you, and do not look back until you have left the site completely._

_Your paycheck will arrive in the form of an eCheck sent to this email address. The house is located at 2129 S Lawndale Ave._

_See you tomorrow night,_

_Judy Able_

I think I must have stared at my phone screen for a solid 20 minutes rereading her bizarre email. By the time I’d shaken myself out of my stupor, my coffee had gotten cold. I finished my blueberry muffin, tucked my 5 hour energy bottles into my coat pocket, and wandered out into the street. Walking down the sidewalk, I felt like someone was watching me over my shoulder the entire time I walked to the homeless center. I slept as much as I could, well into the day anticipating my first shift at the house.


	2. Front Hall

I stared at the house. It was pretty standard- no real yard, tightly packed, small front porch. Your average Chicago brownstone. There was still a chainlink metal fence around the perimeter of the property from construction, along with several “Private Property” and “Keep Out” signs. I walked up the steps onto the front porch, checking under the mat for the front key. The envelope was tiny, with “Jake M” printed in small, neat letters on the front. I popped it open. Inside was a printed instruction sheet, a pen, and the house key. I turned it over, shoved the instructions into my pocket, and slid the key into the door. It unlocked with a solid, heavy turn, and the door swung open with the slightest creak.

I should have just turned around, and run as fast as I could in the other direction.

I shut the door behind me, locked it, and took a deep breath. I could see that the wood floor was covered in dryway dust, leading into every room. There was a staircase to the next floor to my right, the front hall closet under the stairs. The kitchen doorway was ahead, a living room doorway to my right, and what looked like a small bathroom to the left of the kitchen. Leaning around to peer up the stairs, I could see it was nearly pitch black up there. The thought of going upstairs at all sent a shiver down my spine. 

I opened the closet under the stairs. Inside was a bucket of cleaning supplies, a mop bucket on wheels, a broom, an ancient looking vacuum, a mop in the bucket, a dustpan, and a feather duster. I sighed. I had my work cut out for me, but first, I wanted to check the cameras. I could hear the hum of electrical equipment, partially from the lights overhead I assumed, but it sounded louder in the living room. Pulling the cleaning supplies out quickly, and locking the closet, I wandered into the living room.

There was a small standing desk set up with a large computer monitor and a keyboard. I looked it over carefully.

The screen was divided into four sections. One of the cameras was pointed out towards the front gate, looking onto the street. The streetlamps flickered, making the shadows cast from the chainlink fence dance in the low light. It seemed like the camera was positioned somewhere on the front porch, but I hadn’t noticed it when I came in. That was fine, I wasn’t looking for it, it was probably tucked away so people wouldn’t see it. I shrugged it off.

The second camera looked like it was on the back fence, pointing at the back of the house. The backdoor came from the kitchen out onto a little landing with a few steps down into the tiny backyard. You could hardly see anything but the kitchen door in the darkness. The other two cameras were in the kitchen and upstairs hallway.

Sitting on the desk was a small electric clock with an alarm set for 5. I thought that was handy to have a clock there- it would be easier to check the cameras periodically that way. For my first night, I thought I’d complete a task in one of the rooms, and then check the cameras. That would space things maybe 15-20 minutes apart, which was fair. 

I should have checked them more often.

I went back into the front hall, and grabbed the broom, sweeping up the drywall dust. It didn’t take that long, and there were garbage cans all over the place, where it seemed like someone had started my job based on the dust and bits of wood and other bits and bobs inside. I finished sweeping, and took a look at the vacuum. This thing could’ve well been 50 years old with the way it ran. It had some trouble plugging into the outlet- there was something crusted over the plug, but after a bit of force, I got it into the socket.

When I checked the cameras, the clock read 12:08am. 

That was when I saw him.

He was standing out on the street, staring directly at the house. Directly at the camera. Directly at me. My hand slammed on the keyboard as I shut the camera off, my breath catching in my throat, and I sprinted out of the room, slamming the door behind me. My hands were shaking as I flipped over the instruction sheet and scribbled a brief description down. Tall and thin. Black suit. Black hat. Couldn’t see his facial features, but knew he was watching the house. I reached down to unplug the vacuum cord.

There was a long, black scratch on the wall. I blinked. It wasn’t there before. It definitely wasn’t there before. I could feel sweat beginning to pool across my forehead as I made a note of it on the paper, and turned towards the living room door. It had definitely been two minutes. I didn’t want to go back in there. But I needed this job. I needed the money. My knees were knocking together as I turned the doorhandle and stumbled inside.

I did a quick sweep of the cameras, turning the front camera back on. The man was gone, and the rest of the cameras were blank. I let out a long, shaky sigh.

“Okay.” 

Returning to the front hall, I grabbed the mop and mop bucket. The water had to be on in the kitchen, or at least I hoped it was. I couldn’t go outside to use the hose- I was very clearly told not to leave. 

I was beginning to understand why. 

I peeked into the living room to look at the kitchen camera. It was clear, so I walked inside, and pulled the bucket over to the sink. The faucet had one of those hoses you can use to clean your dishes, so I pulled it down and put it in the mop bucket. My hands were shaking horribly, and I splashed a bit of the sink water on my face.

There was a sudden thumping noise above me. I swallowed thickly, my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I tried to focus on the noise from the sink as the bucket filled. There was more thumping, like someone heavy moving around upstairs. It had to be in the office. My hands shook as I turned off the sink, and began to push the mop bucket back into the front hall.

The bucket sloshed as I stuck the mop into the water, and slopped it onto the ground. Another loud thump from upstairs startled me, and I ducked into the living room to check the cameras. There was more thumping, following me upstairs as I moved across the house. It remained right above me as I scanned the cameras. A long, wailing moan echoed down the stairs, and I could feel every hair on my body standing up. I looked at the camera.

There was a woman standing in the hallway, with grey hair, and-

I sprinted across the room before I could think, slammed the door shut, locked it, hit a few keys to turn off the cameras, and wedged myself under the desk. I was shaking too badly to pay attention anything other than the door, watching. The thumping came down the stairs, like someone had fallen down them. There was more moaning, and a dragging, shuffling noise. The doorhandle jiggled.

I started to cry silently, hot tears running down my face as I watched the door shake. The shuffling stopped, and someone knocked.

“ _ Jake? Can you open the door please?” _

I bit my lip. “I-I-I can’t, I’m s-sorry.”

“ _ Jake, please open the door for me. _ ” She knocked on the door again, shaking the handle a bit. “ _ How was your day?” _

“I’m s-s-sorry, I c-san’t,” I sniffled. “M-m-my day was f-fine. H-how was y-yours?”

“ _ It was fine. Night.” _

I didn’t move. She chuckled, and I could hear her voice closer, like she had pressed her lips to the crack in the door.

“ _ Clever. Most people fall for that one. Alright. Goodnight.” _

She shuffled away from the door. There was more thumping on the stairs, and then there was nothing. I was crying. I squeezed out from under the desk, switched the cameras back on, and sprinted from the room, back into the front hall. I checked the clock over my shoulder before I shut the door. 2am.

The floor had a thick, black liquid on it in one spot, directly outside the door. I grabbed the mop, slopped it over the black liquid, and sloshed it around. My hands continued to shake as I cleaned up the mess she had left, and walked into the kitchen, dumping the dirty water down the sink. The floor dried very quickly. I picked up my broom, and swept up again, picking up little flecks of white...rocks… and dumping them into the garbage can on the wall.

I heard the alarm go off for 5 am. I peered up the stairs, took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and sprinted. I sprinted up the steps, down the end of the hall, jiggled the doorhandle to the office. It was locked. I sprinted back down the stairs, shoved the cleaning supplies haphazardly back into the closet, slammed and locked it. I made a beeline for the door, ducked out the front, locked it behind me, and ran faster than I’ve ever run in my entire life. 

I didn’t look back. I wouldn’t have thought too anyway. 


	3. The Kitchen

I woke up the next morning on one of the cots in the homeless shelter. I rubbed my eyes, and turned my phone back on. There was an email from Judy.

_ Hey Jake! _

_ You did a great job last night! The front hall looks great!  _

_ I got your notes about the mark on the wall, and the man out on the street. The mark was gone this morning- could have been a trick of the light, but thanks for letting us know! And we checked the security feed, but didn’t catch the man you mentioned. Either way, I attached the eCheck to this email. See you tonight! _

_ Judy Able _

_ \- .... . .-. . .. ... -. --- - .... .. -. --. _

I dropped my phone, my hands shaking too badly to keep it in my grip. My hands started to sweat, and I felt myself go terribly clammy. I put my phone back on to charge, curled up under the covers, and pulled the blanket up over my head. It was a nightmare. It had to be. Whatever the case, I wasn’t going back. 

I woke up a few hours later and rolled over. My phone screen was lit, and I squinted in the harsh bright light as I reached over to read the notification. There was a text message, from a blocked number. I unlocked my phone and checked the time. It was 11:45pm.

_ Blocked Number: _

W̷̢̛̬̺͊͆͂̾̔̑̒̄͠͠͝ẹ̴̢̨͍̪͔͇͙͎̤͉͕̫̬̗̏̃͋̔̏̃͝ĺ̶̨͕̖̞̙̼̜̲̲̽̌̄̉̽͌̈̚͝͝c̶̢̨̻̫͍̔͑̎̓͗͘͝ǫ̶̰̦̈́͑̌̏͑̿̂̓̓̈͋͘͝m̷͓̫͔͒̀͛̑̀͋̑̌͊̉̎̐̇͝͠e̷͕̻̘̳͕͆̀͋̎̅̕ ̵̦̤̱̬̦̣̻̟͙͛̃̔̅́̎̑̎̃͜͜ͅb̸̨̻̪̖̥͇̝̦̞̥̱̟̖̠͙͔̈͊̾̅͌͂̈́͋̂͗͝ả̶̢̡̲͙͓͍̣͚̭͔̼̃͆̇͑̇̉̈́͗͘̕č̸̙͓̬̜̳̱̟̦̩̳͔͍̮̂͗̃̔̆̌̇̏̐͠k̶̡̨̼̠̹̹̠̜͖͎̗͖̾̉͆̈́͛͜ ̷̛̱̪͔̠͔̹͚̼̖̣͛̃̀̏̈́͋͆͂̄̎͘J̴̡̞̻͖̼̰̄͌͝͝a̶̧̡̼̹̯̥̦̟̭̫̦̗͈̽̾̊̓͂̓̈́̑̐̋͒͛͗͝͝k̷̨̡̧̡̩͙̣̮̝̰̰͚̺̞͌̃̈͑͆͒̇͠ͅë̴̢̦͉̻̻̰͓͈̲̟̹̪̠̪́̈̃̊̽̎͜ͅ

I looked up.

I was standing outside the house.

My feet moved themselves on their own. Forward through the gate. Up to the front door. My hands trembled as they forced themselves into my pockets to fish out the house key. I felt eyes on my back as I unlocked the front door and stepped inside, shutting and locking it behind me. 

I didn’t get a grace period this time.

There was thumping from upstairs. Shuffling around, like someone moving around their bedroom. The ceiling creaked above me as I pulled the cleaning supplies out of the closet. I left the closet unlocked this time- it had taken too much time to unlock and replace the supplies inside before I was able to leave last time.

I walked into the living room to check the cameras. The man was standing outside on the street again. As I reached to turn off the camera, he raised an arm, and waved at me, in a slow, steady motion, like he wasn’t doing it, but rather his arm was being pulled up and moved for him. I slammed the keyboard, shutting down the camera, and ducked from the room. Running to the kitchen, I started the sink, getting the mop bucket ready. The water took a minute to get warm, and I ducked back into the living room while I waited. I flipped the camera back on, and sighed. The man was gone.

The mop bucket filled quickly enough, and I started to sweep up the kitchen. There was a bit of sawdust here and there, and the counters were dusty. I looked around for any marks on the walls, or anything strange. Nothing so far.

Someone started knocking on the walls. Not from the other room, but like they were stuck inside the wall itself, wedged somewhere between the insulation and the drywall. The hair on my neck stood up as the knocking turned to slow, screeching clawing, like someone testing how much they could tear. Paced, measured, and steady. Claw, pause, claw. I ignored it, and started sweeping the sawdust up, dumping it in the garbage can on my way into the living room to check the cameras. The man was back on the street, waving at me again. 

I stared. He was closer. Definitely closer. Several feet closer. I punched the key again, and was about to duck out when my eyes froze on the backdoor camera.

Standing on the landing, staring up at the porch light, a tall haggard… woman. Woman was a generous word for what it was. I was glad I couldn’t see it’s face. It stood taller than the doorframe, and was so boney that it looked like a gust of wind might blow it to pieces. A tangled rat’s nest of white hair dangled down her back. I was a statue as I watched her reach up with sharp, boney claws, and touch the porch light. I watched it flicker before I finally remembered to move, and shut the camera off. I left the room, but stood in the hallway.

I could feel her watching me through the window. 

I stared at the floor, and walked into the kitchen, pretending to be oblivious. After a moment, I felt her leave. Felt is the wrong word, but I knew she was gone. I finished sweeping, and left to turn the cameras back on.

This time, I made it to 3:30am before the grey woman showed up again.

The entire time I was cleaning the kitchen, I could feel her getting closer. Like she was sinking into the room through the ceiling, dripping through the pipes like the sludge she always left behind. I finished dusting the countertops, and was getting ready to mop when I went to check the camera.

She was standing in the upstairs hallway, staring down the staircase. As I looked her, she turned. I could see her face.

It looked like someone had taken a rotting jack o’ lantern, and stuck it onto the body of their decaying grandmother’s corpse. Her teeth poked out of her mouth, jagged, her grin literally from ear to ear as she wiggled a hand at me, in a coy wave. I choked out a sob as I shut down the cameras, and slammed the door, locking it as I heard her move down the stairs.

I had hardly made it under the desk when the door handle started to jiggle.

“ _ Jake. Please come open the door for me. _ ”

I could feel my bottom lip trembling. “N-No. No.”

“ _ Jake. Open the door. _ ”

“P-please. Please, just leave me alone,” I sobbed. “Please go away.”

“ _ I promise you can leave, Jake. Open the door, and leave the house.” _

I buried my face in my hands as the door started to rattle in its frame. Like at any second, it would finally give way, and she would come and peer under the desk, with those dead, rotting eyes. “God please! Please, go away!”

“ _ Jake. Jake. Jake. JAKE!”  _ The door rattled more violently, and I was certain it was about to give way. I could hear something dripping outside, something thumping around upstairs as the windows started to rattle. The floor creaked, and then there was nothing. It was silent.

“ _ Goodnight.” _

She left me sobbing under the desk for the next hour.

By the time I was able to get up, it was 4:30am. I had half an hour left. I dragged myself out of the living room after I flipped the cameras back on, shutting the door. There was moaning from upstairs. I sobbed, and ignored it, stumbling into the kitchen and doing the mopping half-heartedly, cleaning up the dripping mess the grey woman had made in the hall. I threw the rest of the supplies back in the closet, dumped the water out, and was shaking out the mop when I heard the alarm go off. I choked out a sob, locked the supplies in the closet, and stared up the staircase.

I sprinted up, down the hallway, yanked on the door, and hardly registered that it was locked before I flew back down the steps, slammed the front door shut, and hardly remembered locking it before I was running. My tears were hot on my cheeks as I crossed the street. I made it several blocks before I stopped for breath, collapsing onto my knees. I sobbed, and stared up into the sky as the sun slowly rose. I don’t remember what happened after that. 


End file.
